


The Countdown

by NarryMusings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Storan, narry storan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 06:27:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2378219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Like the timer on the inside of his wrist, Harry has been counting down the days-hours-minutes-seconds until he meets his soul mate. But then Harry meets Niall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Countdown

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is by no means my first time writing but it is my first time posting something I've written for this fandom. 
> 
> This is a Soulmate AU centered around Niall and Harry, my lovely OTP. 
> 
> I've also posted this on tumblr: narrymusings.
> 
> Thanks for reading, if you've decided to do so!

Harry's mum finally gets him his SoulTimer on his 13th birthday. 

The legal age to have a SoulTimer is 12, but his mother had wanted to make sure that he was ready and that he still wanted it when he was older so she'd promised him that if by his 13th birthday he still wanted his Timer then she would buy it for him. 

A SoulTimer is a small, incredibly smart, technical device which measures things like your heartbeat and the depth of your soul and calculates, well, who your soul will ultimately belong to. It gets inserted onto the inside of your left wrist and once the connections are made, a small screen will light up and reveal a series of numbers: Years, Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds. Essentially, it's a countdown until the very second that you are bound by fate to meet your soul mate. However, if your soul mate doesn't have a Timer of their own, then the screen will remain blank – and, likewise, should your soul mate eventually get their Timer, yours will turn on. And if they don't, well...Harry's never known anybody who's Timer has never turned on eventually. 

The process is quick and fairly painless and seconds after the connection is made his Timer turns on – and all the built up anticipation and anxiety and excitement over the last 13 years, let alone this past year he's spent longing for one makes him feel sick. His mum is nervous, standing beside him with wide, curious eyes and his sister Gemma is encouraging him to look down. So he looks. 

10y.008d.06h.32m.16s.

And that's it. This is his countdown. And this is finally his soul mate's countdown.

He will meet his soul mate in just over 10 years. 

Harry can hardly wait.

X

Harry's never met anyone who doesn't have a Timer. He's heard about people without Timers, of course, because everyone has; he's just never met one. 

Some say people without Timers are just afraid of commitment. Others say much, much more horrible, vulgar things about their characters; things Harry would never repeat.

But then Harry meets Niall. 

He's started University in London and he's just under three months away from being 18 when he decides to check out a record shop just a few blocks away from campus. He's looking through old and new vinyl records – he's got a bit of a collector's obsession – and he's so lost in thought and concentration that he doesn't even realize there's a boy standing next to him until they're reaching for the same Eagles record. He's about to make an argument, say something along the lines of him being there first, but the words die in his mouth when he looks up to see a pale-faced, blue-eyed, dyed-blond haired boy staring back at him.

His first thought is that that boy is kind of...beautiful. His features are soft and perfect; he kind of looks like an angel – or a Furby, if he's honest.

And then the boy speaks with a distinctly Irish accent and his voice is kind of deep and scratchy and it's like Harry forgets how to breathe for second. And, no, he's never heard an angel speak before so he doesn't know what an angel sounds like but this boy's voice is pretty damn angelic.

"Um, sorry," Harry stutters when he finally finds his words. He snatches his hand back.

"Nah, you had it first. 's yours," the Irish boy says, plucking the record out of the box to give to Harry.

Harry hesitates. 

The Irish boy notices and smirks. "Tell ya what, mate. The manager here, Simon, knows everything there is to know about everything – how 'bout we get ‘im to quiz us about them Eagles and whoever knows the most answers gets the record?"

Harry knows he doesn't have a chance at the record as he'd only "discovered" the Eagles a few weeks ago, but he agrees anyway. He follows Blue Eyes and the record toward the back of the shop as the Irish calls out to a large, smartly dressed man behind the counter. 

Harry puts up a good fight, but the Irish boy, whose name is Niall, Harry finds out when Simon calls him by name, wins the record anyway – and by a long shot. Niall – it kind of just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? – claps him on the back apologetically as he goes to pay and Simon promises to see about getting Harry another record. And suddenly the record doesn't even matter because Niall's acting more excited than he should be and he's laughing and Harry thinks that Niall really could be an angel.

He finds himself walking out of the shop alongside Niall, who offers him a ride back to wherever he's going and that's when he finds out that Niall goes to the same school as him – for sound engineering – and that he lives in the same dorm, a couple floors down. They spend the whole five minute ride talking about school and classes. And then as they walk back into their dorm, Niall tells him that his roommate, Zayn, is having little gathering with his "artsy friends" on the weekend and that Harry is more than welcome to come – “and, hey, we could listen to the Eagles, yeah?"

Harry says yes, of course, and thinks there's something about Niall's energy that makes it impossible to say no. Niall lifts his arm to shake his hand, then, and lifts the record in his other hand teasingly and that's when Harry notices the lack of a Timer on Niall's wrist.

He doesn't say anything, of course, because some might say it's rude – especially when you've only just met – but it tugs at his curiosity. And it's the same curiosity that makes him look down at his own Timer. 

05y.098d.19h.03m.25s

X

Harry goes to Niall's and Zayn's dorm room for Zayn's artsy party and spends the majority of the night in Niall's room listening to the Eagles and drinking beer. 

The following day, Niall goes with Harry back to the record store to pick up his Eagles record.

A few days later they have coffee together between classes and Harry lets slip that he sings sometimes so Niall drags him out to an open mic night at a pub a few minutes away from campus a couple days after that.

Harry's roommate, Liam, throws a party a couple weekends later before Christmas break and Niall brings Zayn and when the party ends Harry, Niall, Liam and Zayn are the only ones left. And then it's just Harry and Niall because Liam and Zayn fall asleep and everything just kind of feels right.

Niall goes back to Ireland for the Christmas holidays and Harry goes back to Cheshire – and, yeah, Harry kind of misses Niall's presence. So when Niall suggests, albeit jokingly, that Harry should fly out to Ireland for the last week of the holiday, Harry does just that. He meets Niall's parents and his brother's family – and he's pretty sure his nephew, Theo, is the cutest baby ever – and most of Niall's friends, all of whom have Timers, he notes. By the end of his visit, Harry decides he's kind of obsessed with Ireland as well as with Niall's family.

And that's kind of how Niall becomes a permanent fixture in Harry's life and it's like he can't even remember life before he met Niall.

X

Harry finally plucks up the courage to ask Niall why he doesn't have a Timer months later while they're studying for mid-terms. He's never quite known how to ask, considering he's never been in the situation before, but during one particular study break they head down to the dorm cafe for a cuppa and Harry notices that the barista behind the counter doesn't have a Timer either, which buzzes around his head for the rest of the afternoon. And the curiosity eats away at him until he manages to look up from his textbook and ask Niall properly.

Niall smirks. "I was wondering when you would pluck up the courage to ask me."

Harry's cheeks blaze bright pink at that – and if Niall notices he doesn't say anything. "I mean, you don't have to tell me."

"Nah, I don't mind," Niall says, brushing off Harry's comment. "It's really not that big of a thing anyway. Basically I just...I just don't really believe in the whole Timer thing."

Harry's brows come together in confusion. "Don't believe in it?"

"I mean, obviously it works for some people and that's great – I just don't get the big deal."

"But you believe in soul mates..?"

"Yeah – yes, I do believe in soul mates," Niall confirms, nodding his head firmly. "I've just never understood – I can't grasp the idea of putting your entire life, entire belief system in a piece of technology, ya know? Like...you're either gonna fall in love with someone or you're not – why do we need Timers to tell us who we won't and will fall in love with?"

Harry shrugs. "So we don't fall in love with the wrong person."

"See, I've never understood that either because how do you fall in love with the wrong person? If you're in love then you're obviously in love for a reason and just because it might not be one person's ideal reason it doesn't make it any less right. It's like...this Timer is this thing that's got your entire life planned out for you but you won't know a thing about it until the damn thing clocks out. And what if you don't even like your soul mate?"

"I reckon you're kind of bound to since they're your soul mate," Harry points out.

"Well, yeah, but you know what I mean, right? What if you meet a thousand people between the time you get your Timer and the time you meet your soul mate and all of those people are kind of perfect and you like them – maybe even love them. Why can't one of them be your soul mate?"

"Because they aren't."

"But why not? Who even decides who our soul mates are?"

"Fate."

"Yeah, maybe. But shouldn't we get a say? I mean, we're the ones that have to live the rest of our lives with this person, why can't we decide who that person is gonna be?"

Harry's silent for a moment, because Niall actually makes sense. "So...you don't have a Timer because-"

"I don't have a Timer because I want to decide for myself," Niall admits. "I want to fall in love on my own – with whoever I end up falling in love with for whatever reason. Not because my Timer clocked out."

Harry nods silently, looking down at his own Timer. He's never thought about it like that – or at all, really – before. He's just always believed that everyone has a soul mate, that fate is supposed to bring them together and that the Timer is supposed to help. A thought occurs to him, then. “What about your soul mate? What if they have a Timer and they end up waiting their whole life for you?”

“I mean,” Niall starts, “I dunno. I guess I may never know.”

Harry hums softly.

"That's not to say that having a Timer is a bad thing though, Harry," Niall says, tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at Harry's head. "My whole family and most of my friends, as you know, have Timers. And in all honestly, theirs have worked. I've just never really thought quite like them."

"Yeah, no, I get it," Harry replies. "I mean, it makes sense, I guess."

"What does your Timer say now?" Niall asks curiously, motioning towards Harry's wrist. 

Harry looks down at his Timer, vaguely aware that he hasn't looked at it in days and tells him it's just under five years away.. 

"And you got it, what-"

"Five years ago; my 13th birthday."

"Ten years, then," Niall concludes. "That's a long time to wait for your soul mate. She better worth it, huh?" he teases.

"He..." Harry mutters, shifting awkwardly as he looks back down at his textbook.

"What?"

He looks back up to see Niall looking at him with curious eyes – and something else, maybe – and swallows hard around the lump in his throat. "Um, he... I'm – I mean I like girls, I'm just more attracted to – I like boys more."

"Oh you do?"

Harry nods.

Niall grins. "So...you like the Eagles, you collect records, you dabble in singing, you like girls and boys – boys more... If I didn't know any better I'd say you and I were soul mates, Haz."

Niall gets up and says he's going to get them a beer and Harry's left staring at the cushion the blond boy was just sat on with a weird feeling in his chest.

X

Time passes, literally ticking silently by on his wrist and as the seconds, days and months go by – and as Harry and Niall become more and more inseparable, Harry becoming kind of dependent on the blond boy from Ireland, Harry finds himself looking down at his Timer less and less. Whereas he used to be a little bit obsessed with it, willing the seconds to go faster, gazing at it fondly, he barely even remembers it's there now; barely even thinks to look at it.

And then, two years on, it's like his Timer doesn't even matter because he almost never looks at it anyway.

X

Niall likes to date. He likes to go out and have a good time and meet new people – and if he ends up in bed with this new boy or girl, then so be it. And Harry knows this. 

Harry knows that Niall likes people and likes to flirt and likes to explore new relationships and it works for Niall because he's outgoing and he's charming and he's Niall. He knows that while Niall looks forward to falling love, he also kind of loves falling in lust too and he likes the adventure of being in lust while he's waiting to fall in love. Harry knows this.

And maybe once upon a time Harry would've never been able to do the same because he actually has a Timer and it used to mean so much to him that he had never even thought about being with anybody else. But the thing is, the Timer doesn't seem all that important anymore. Or maybe it's that Niall just seems more important now. 

Because the thing is, Harry kind of has feelings for Niall. At least, he thinks he does. Because his heart beats faster and the butterflies that come to life in his stomach when he's nervous come to life whenever Niall laughs or smiles at him and he feels like he can't breathe every time Niall disappears into the loo at a pub or leaves the pub with someone on his arm. Because all he thinks about, all he sees, all he wants is Niall and to see Niall and to just spend time with Niall. 

But Harry has a Timer and Niall doesn't and Harry knows it'll never work between them; they aren't meant to be together because the 03y.043d.7m.16s says otherwise. 

X

Harry and Niall decide to move in together. Niall's working full-time as a DJ at a smaller, up-and-coming radio station in London and Harry's still working somewhere between part-time and full-time at the bakery while he finishes his last year of school and they decide to just get their own place since Niall was no longer in school and Harry's residency in the student dorms had ended at the end of last year.

It's just a small flat – two bedrooms almost equal in size, one bathroom and open kitchen/living room area – and no, it's not the nicest looking place either but it's all they can afford. Liam and Zayn help them move their stuff in, which doesn't take long at all and by the end of the evening their respective girlfriends, Danielle and Perrie have joined them, along with a few of Niall's friends from school, for a little housewarming party. The flat isn't realistically large enough for that many people, but they make due.

Once everyone else is gone, Harry and Niall wind up pitching a fort in the living room with blankets and pillows because they have yet to set up their beds in their respective bedrooms. Harry's stopped drinking but Niall's on this sixth or seventh beer and Harry knows the Irish boy is tipsy. They're lying amongst some blankets and pillows on the floor, the backs of their heads against the back of the couch.

"'m glad we're doing this, Harry," Niall says softly, his words slurring a bit.

"What, going to bed in a fort?"

"That too," Niall chuckles, popping a crisp into his mouth before he tilts the bag for Harry. "I just mean I'm glad we decided to move in together, me and you. I don't think I could've done it with anyone else."

"Not even Sean?" Harry wonders aloud, referring to one of Niall's childhood friends from Ireland whose moved to London for work recently.

"Definitely not Sean. I love the bloke like a brother, but hell no," Niall replies. "I'd rather live by myself than with anyone but you."

Harry looks sideways at Niall, then. Niall, who's all blue eyes like the ocean and bright blond tips in his hair and flushed cheeks from the beer. Niall, who laughs too loud and talks too much and has so much personality it's kind of overwhelming and completely addicting. Niall, who's looking back at him with curious eyes. "Um, I agree," Harry murmurs. "I mean, yeah, I feel the same way."

Silence falls between them as Niall wiggles around and makes himself comfortable among the pillows, lying on his side with his knees bent slightly and his arms tucked under the pillow under his head and against his chest. "You're my best friend, Haz. You're more than my best friend, you're like my..." 

He trails off, then, but the word he was going to say kind of lingers in the air between them, echoing in his ears.

Soul mate.

Harry swallows hard around the lump in his throat as he too makes himself comfortable and mirrors Niall's position, facing Niall. Their knees are brushing against each other and their faces are so close Harry can feel Niall breathing through his nose. He loops his pinky around Niall's and Niall nods like he understands exactly what the gesture means. 

Soul mate. 

Except not. 

X

Harry isn't sure how it happens. 

One minute Niall's about to leave the pub with some girl and then Harry's drunkenly begging him not to and then Niall's telling Harry to give him a reason why he shouldn't and then Harry's kissing him – and now they're stumbling through their flat towards Harry's room, tripping over their shoes and shedding clothes. And, okay, maybe Harry is sure how it happens.

Niall tastes like a mixer of beer and spearmint and smells like his favourite cologne – and sunshine. He's all firm, desperate kisses and gentle, confident touches. His fingers are like magic and fire on Harry's skin and pulling softly at Harry's curls and his body is so hard and perfect against Harry's own. He's everywhere, all around and over and under Harry – and Harry's drunk off of him. He's drunk off of Niall and the way Niall's kissing him and touching him, drunk off of Niall's moans and grunts. He's drunk off of Niall.

Harry's in nothing but his black boxers when Niall begins to kiss his way down Harry's chest. His head is thrown back against the pillows at the head of the bed and his hand is lost in Niall's hair and the air is coming out of his lungs in shallow spurts. It's when Niall's lips reach the waistband of his boxers that Harry gasps, senses suddenly hyperactive and too aware of Niall and the fact that Niall is so close.

Niall pulls back slightly, looking up at Harry through lidded eyes. "What?" He murmurs, pressing one more soft kiss to Harry's happy trail before crawling back up Harry's body to look him straight in the eyes.

Harry blinks, feeling embarrassed and ashamed and nervous. "I, um...I've never..."

"You – you're a virgin?"

Harry nods, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.

Niall smirks. "Of course you're a virgin, Mr. Timer," he teases. 

"Hey," Harry pouts.

Niall pulls away, then, and that's when Harry reaches for him rather frantically, pulling on his arm to keep him from climbing off the bed. "We don't have to, Haz, it's-"

"I want to," Harry whispers, looking directly into Niall's eyes. 

"Harry-"

"Ni, I want to," he insists. "I want to, so badly."

Niall smiles softly and little bit drunkenly. "Yeah?"

Harry nods and then Niall's kissing him again and climbing on top of him and settling in between his thighs and he's so full of Niall already it's intoxicating and wonderful and Harry never wants it to stop.

X

It kind of becomes a thing after that, the two of them.

Niall isn't sure about it at first because "you have a Timer, Harry, and what if you end up regretting it or something?"

Harry insists he won't regret it, that he never could, but Niall isn't so sure because "I get you, Haz. That Timer is your life and I won't get in the way."

"You won't," Harry says. "Look, you said yourself that you know people who had Timers and who still explored other kinds of relationships and...I want that." With you.

They go back and forth for about five more minutes after that and then Niall finally agrees to continue doing whatever it is they've just started, without putting a label on it, but not before asking how much time they have. The answer is: 02y.163d.17h.39m06s.

And Harry wishes to spend every second of it with Niall.

X

Somewhere around the one year mark, Niall starts paying more attention to Harry's Timer than Harry does. 

Sometimes Niall just catches a glimpse of it – when Harry's hand is at the top of the steering wheel or when Harry's cooking as Niall watches him from the counter or when they're rough-housing and Niall pins him to the floor – and then Harry just kisses him and all is forgotten. Other times, however, Harry catches Niall staring at it – almost glaring – and Harry feels guilty because Niall looks sad and conflicted and so he pulls his sleeve back down or shifts his arm so the Timer is hidden. And then he'll kiss the Irish boy on the forehead and then on the lips but Niall will get up and go to his room and Harry will follow shortly after. And he'll find Niall lying flat on his back or flat on his stomach and Harry will crawl onto the bed beside him – and sometimes they'll just lay there in silence, barely touching or sometimes Harry will curl himself around Niall and whisper sweet nothing's into his ear or sometimes Harry will kiss Niall until their lips are bruised and sore and then he'll kiss him some more. 

And then there are the times when Niall thinks Harry's asleep and Harry feels Niall ever-so-gently turn Harry's wrist over before running his thumb over the Timer. Harry never says anything. He just lets Niall look at it because deep down he knows that Niall has to, that Niall's keeping track of how long they have. And Niall never says anything either. 

Until he does.

Harry really is almost asleep this time – his eyes are heavy and his breathing is slow and he can feel himself tipping over the edge of unconsciousness when he hears Niall's voice, barely above a whisper. "I wish I was your soul mate."

The first thing Harry does the next morning is look at his Timer and all that registers is 275d. Nine months.

X

His Timer reads 00y.148d.06h.32m.54s when Niall breaks up with him and as much as he wants to cry and refuse to let him – and argue with Niall – Harry can't bring himself to deny Niall this break.

It hurts. It's like his heart is literally falling apart in his chest and he feels like he's going to throw up and his head feels dizzy. But Niall is right.

"It's inevitable, Haz. Sooner or later this has to end because no matter what there's going to be someone else for you and I’d rather get this over with sooner rather than later," Niall tells him. "I just...I think it'll be easier for both of us, when the time comes, if we do this now. Ya know?"

And that's when Harry starts to cry, because he's losing Niall and the last thing he wants to do is lose Niall. So Niall hugs him and holds him and wipes away Harry's tears while struggling to hold back his own. He does this until Harry manages to calm himself down and then proceeds to promise Harry that they'll always be best friends because "I need you in my life, Harry. No matter what." 

Harry kind of feels numb after that, even when he can hear Niall's sobs drifting from the blond boy's bedroom.

And for the first time in his entire life, Harry regrets ever getting his Timer.

X

Harry's there, two months later, when Niall starts flirting with a girl, Barbara, at the pub they're at. The girl's gorgeous and she's nice and she has a great sense of humor – laughs at every single one of Niall's jokes but who doesn't, really? She's an all-around nice, down-to-earth girl with good intentions but Harry hates her.

He hates her because Niall is obviously smitten with her; he laughs at her jokes just as much as she laughs at his, he smiles at her cheekily, he stares at her even when she's not looking and when she is looking he tends to stare at her lips when she's talking. Niall's genuinely interested in her and this knowledge doesn't sit well with Harry, however unfair that may be. 

Harry goes to the loo, although he doesn't really need to go, because he just has to get away from Niall's flirty mouth and lustful eyes. And when he comes back is when everything kind of unravels because Niall's got his jacket on and he's helping Barbara into her own jacket, while Liam and Zayn remain seating in their booth and Harry just knows. He knows where's Niall's going and why – and the thought makes his stomach sick. 

And then it's like he's moving on instinct – and jealousy – and he's dragging Niall into the hallway where the bathrooms are located and he's begging. "Please don't – don't leave with her."

Niall sighs, rolling his eyes. "Don't, Harry-"

"But, Niall-"

"Fuck you, Harry!" Niall shouts, his voice breaking slightly as he jabs a finger into Harry's chest. "You can't do this to me right now, you have no right."

Harry blinks, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "I-I know, but just listen-"

"No, Harry, you don't know! You don't – because if you did you wouldn't be doing this to me."

"Niall-"

"You have a fucking Timer, Harry!" Niall spits out, shoving Harry back against the wall. His normally bright and happy blue eyes are now dark with anger and pain and it tugs at Harry's heart strings. The way he says the word Timer like a dirty, disgusting thing scares Harry because not only has he never seen Niall this mad or hurt before but Niall's never spoken so...hatefully about Timers before. "And in three months you're going to meet your fucking soul mate and you're gonna be fucking in love with him and – and what about me, huh? What do I get?! I get nothing! And, yeah, maybe it's my fault because I never got a fucking Timer but this is your fault too because you made me fall in love with you even though we both knew that I would never get to keep you. So you don't get to do this to me, not now."

Harry sputters, opening and closing his mouth like that a fish because there's so much he wants to say, he just doesn't know how to say it. Not to mention the fact that there's four words racing around in his head: in love with you. Niall's in love with him. He looks at Niall and it's like he can see Niall's broken heart in his ocean-like blue eyes; Niall looks so vulnerable and confused and desperate and Harry wants to tell him that he loves him too but he can't bring himself to do it. He can't let himself hurt Niall any more than Niall's already hurt. "I...Niall, I..." And he tries, he really does, to say something, but he trails off in defeat as he casts his gaze to the floor. 

"I'll never have you, Haz," Niall whispers – his voice is soft and gentle and shaky. And they both know he's speaking the truth. "So just...let me have this. Please?"

It's all Harry can do to step aside and then watch Niall leave with Barbara on his arm.

+

Harry's just waking up when he hears the front door of the flat open and then close again, signaling that Niall has come home. He rolls onto his side and digs under his pillow for his phone to check the time and notices that it's only 9:30 in the morning. In all honestly he hadn't expected to see or even hear from Niall any time before noon today because Niall likes to sleep in incredibly late after he's been drinking, especially if he got laid the night before too. Harry would know. 

All of a sudden his door is opening slowly and Harry looks up abruptly to see Niall poking his head inside.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course – yeah," Harry replies, sitting up quickly. 

Niall walks into the room, still in the clothes he'd been wearing the night before, carrying a large paper bag. "Brought breakfast from the diner," he says, referring to their favourite diner just around the block. "Hungry?"

"Starving."

And then Harry's pushing himself up so his back is against the headboard and Niall is crawling onto the bed to sit in front of him with his back pressed against the wall and they eat the fattiest, greasiest breakfast known to man in silence. It's like a silent apology from both of them to each of them.

X

003d.

Three days until Harry will meet his soul mate and he isn't nearly as excited as he was the day he got his Timer. In fact, he's sort of dreading it. He's scared and he's confused and for the first time in years he doesn't know what he wants.

"I don't know what to do, Liam," Harry murmurs flopping himself down onto the sofa in Liam's living room. Danielle is out for the day with a couple of her dancer friends and Niall had to work today so Harry has found himself here, with his old dorm mate. They'd just been hanging out like old times, playing video games and listening to music, when Liam saw his Timer and commented on the fact that he was so close. And Harry hadn't wanted to say anything, really, but now that he has it's like the words won't stop. "I don't – I don't even know what I want anymore. It's like, yeah, I've been waiting for this moment my whole life and of course I want to see it through but I...I want Niall. I want him, but I can't have him and it hurts, Liam-"

"Wait – hold on. Who says you can't have him?"

Harry blinks. "Liam, I have a Timer."

"So? Everyone has a soul mate, Harry, but not everyone has a Timer – and it's not like people who don't have Timers don't have happy endings too."

"But then who's my soul mate going to love if I don't love him?"

Liam shrugs. "Whoever he loves, I suppose."

Harry opens his mouth to respond but then closes it when he realizes he doesn't know what to say.

"Don't you remember what you told me about what Niall said about soul mates? Don't you remember thinking how weird but also kind of brilliant it was?" Liam wonders and Harry finds himself nodding distractedly. "Maybe he's right, Harry."

X

Harry spends the next two days wondering the same thing. Maybe Niall's right.

X

Harry didn't want to leave the flat this morning, didn't even want to get out of bed, but Niall had practically forced him to get up, get dressed and go to his early afternoon class. Niall had made him a quick breakfast and packed him a lunch in a brown paper bag and had literally pushed him towards the front door because, "today's the day, Haz. Tell me everything, yeah?"

And Harry had wanted to stay. He wanted to tell Niall that he'd rather just skip class and spend the day with Niall instead, but Niall was so lively and excited and positive that Harry kind of had to leave. Because maybe Niall is over it; maybe that's why Niall's acting the way he is. Maybe Niall doesn't love him anymore, doesn't want to be with him. 

So Harry had turned and grinned at Niall as he stumbled backwards through the doorway and into the hall. "I will," he'd said, turning away from Niall to walk down the hall toward the stairwell. He glanced back over his shoulder as he pulled the heavy, metal door open and thinks he sees Niall wipe his cheek with the sleeve of his jumper. Is Niall crying? Probably not.

Hours later, Harry finds himself standing in line at Starbucks to get him and Niall a coffee. He hears a soft beep and realizes, with a rather shocked jolt in his chest, that it's his Timer and when he looks down his stomach lurches. 

58s.

Suddenly the room feels hot and Harry's palms are sweating and his heart is beating wildly in his chest and the butterflies in his stomach are most definitely alive. This is it. This is the moment he's been waiting for his entire life. And yet...he doesn't feel excited. He doesn't feel anxious or nervous – at least not the way he thinks he should. If anything he feels kind of...disappointed. Kind of like in 35s his life is going to end rather than begin. Which is ridiculous, he knows. 

He looks up when there's exactly 25 seconds left of his Timer and his gaze lands on a short blond girl behind the counter taking orders. And after doing the math –estimations – in his head, he realizes that she must be his soul mate and no. No, she can't be. His soul mate isn't supposed to be a girl, it's supposed to be a boy because he likes boys better.

His soul mate is supposed to be Niall, he thinks vaguely.

Harry glances down at his Timer one last time – 05s – before he looks up, sees the blond girl behind the counter again, the one he's now 4 seconds away from speaking to and then abruptly turns away. He whirls around so quickly he doesn't even see the boy he literally trips over until he's already almost knocked them both onto the floor. Less than a second later his Timer goes off – and so does the boy's in front of him. 

His gaze snaps up and all he sees is brown hair swept perfectly to the side and blue eyes like the sky on a sunny day and soft, elegant features. He's pretty – especially when he smiles. 

But he's not Niall. He's not Niall and all Harry wants is Niall.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to go," Harry mutters, moving to brush past him.

"W-what?" 

The boy sounds so disappointed and dejected and Harry feels bad because maybe this boy's been waiting his whole life for this moment the same way Harry had been five years ago. He turns back around to face the boy, looking guilty and something inside him tells him he owes the boy an explanation. This boy is his soul mate, after all. "It's just...I'm already in love with someone and – and he's perfect and... I'm sorry."

The boy smiles softly, kind of sadly. "At least tell me your name?"

"Harry."

The boy grins and sticks out his hand for a shake. "Louis. Nice to meet you."

Harry smiles sheepishly, slipping his hand into Louis'. And yeah, he feels a shiver go through his body but it's nothing compared to the fire he feels whenever he touches Niall. "Likewise."

"Go."

And then Harry's running so fast it's like his life depends on it. And maybe it kind of does.

X

Harry bursts through the front door, Niall's name slipping past his lips before he can even shrug his jacket off and kick his boots into the closet. He's panting, out of breath from running most of the way and then from taking the stairs two at a time to the third floor. Niall doesn't answer but Harry knows he's there because Niall's shoes are still in the closet, so he makes a beeline for the blond boy's room. 

He practically throws himself against the door as he opens it and stumbles inside to see Niall sitting on his bed with his back against the wall and his guitar in his lap. Niall looks up at him and Harry's heart stutters in his chest when he sees that Niall's eyes are puffy and his cheeks are red from crying. He isn't crying anymore, but the signs are still there which makes Harry wonder how long Niall had been crying for in the first place. And that's when Harry remembers the tears he saw Niall wiping away as he was leaving for class – four hours ago.

"What – Niall, what-"

"I'm fine, it's fine," Niall says, crossing his legs as he sits up. The guitar remains in his lap as he crosses an arm over the top of it.

Harry tries to protest because a crying Niall is not a "fine" Niall but then the Irish boy is asking him all kinds of questions. 

"How'd it go? Did you meet him? Of course you met him, duh. What's he like? Is he cute? How long did you talk to him? It couldn't have been for very long. Is he nice?"

Harry nods because he doesn't know what else to do or what to say. Yeah, I met him, but I kind of ran away?

"C'mon, Harry, you gotta gimme more than that," Niall presses.

Harry takes a deep breath as he walks further into the room and then crawls onto the bed like he's done so many times before. "I saw him, Ni. I saw him – and he's beautiful; brown hair, blue eyes, face of a damn model..."

"That's great, Haz. When do I get to meet 'im?"

"You don't," Harry replies. Niall looks confused. "I couldn't – I couldn't go through with it. I...I thought it was gonna be someone else – this new barista girl at Starbucks – and I panicked and then turned around and I literally walked right into him. Both of our Timers went off at the same time and I just – I couldn't even bring myself to care so I left. I couldn't – Ni, I couldn't," he murmurs, playing with a loose thread on Niall's comforter as he looks into the blond boy's hopeful, loving eyes. "I-I don't want a soul mate if it isn't you – I don't want anyone else."

Niall continues to stare at him and Harry waits with baited breath for his reaction. And then all at once, in one fluid, clumsy motion, Niall places his guitar on the floor and then promptly tosses himself into Harry's arms and buries his face in the crook of Harry's neck. "Good timing on your part then, 'cause I was seriously thinking about getting meself a timer," he mutters.

"Y-you were?"

Niall pulls back ever-so-slightly to look at him affectionately. "I figured if you could meet your soul mate and have everything turn out perfectly for you then so could I. It might've already been too late, mind you, but I reckoned it would've been worth a shot-"

Harry shakes his head vigorously as he presses his forehead to Niall's and lifts his right hand to stroke the backs of his knuckles against Niall's cheek. "You've always been my soul mate, Niall. In every way that counts."

Niall giggles, then, and then he starts pushing Harry onto his back and peppers his face with kisses. Harry laughs, throwing his head back and squeezing his eyes shut in bliss. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he murmurs between kisses. 

"I love you too," Harry whispers, grabbing the back of Niall's head to kiss him properly.

And then Niall's pulling away, pushing against Harry's chest, and his eyes are wide with panic and worry and Harry's heart skips a beat because "what's wrong?"

"What are you gonna tell your parents, Haz?"

Harry groans. "You're thinking about my parents right now?"

"I mean – it's just – our friends know about us and my parents know about me but your parents don't know about anything," Niall says and the speed at which the words are flying out of his mouth just proves how panicked he really is. "What are you gonna tell them? What are they gonna say?"

Harry shrugs. "I'll just tell them the truth. And maybe I'll tell them what you told me all those years ago about Timers and soul mates – but it doesn't matter, Ni, because all that matters is that I want this."

"What about your soulmate, Harry? He must be heartbroken! What if he never falls in love or-"

"It doesn't matter, Niall," Harry insists, taking Niall's face in his hands gently. He presses his forehead to Niall's once more, forcing the blond boy to look at him. "All that matters to me is you, yeah. Us. You're the only soul that matters to me."

Niall pauses, staring silently at him for a minute – and Harry stares back because, well, why not? "I fucking love you, ya know that?"

Harry laughs into the kiss that comes shortly after and if they happen to spend the rest of their lives like this then so be it.

End.


End file.
